1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the delivery of data streams to mobile devices.
2. Statement of the Problem
Until recently, users of mobile devices predominantly uploaded considerably less data than they would download. However, the recent introduction of video-enabled mobile devices is likely to stimulate rapidly growing demand for uplink bandwidth as users increasingly stream data to friends. User-streaming of real-time, live video is also expected to contribute to the rapidly growing demand for uplink bandwidth.
When there is breaking news local, national and international news organizations are keen to obtain exclusive video footage of the event and be the first to inform the public of the news event. Since it is cost prohibitive for news organizations to have professional resources deployed to every location so as to be on location for the initiation of breaking news, often times, after becoming aware of a news event, news organizations will make on-air requests for anyone who has pictures or videos of the news event to contact the news organization.
In addition, if there is an emergency situation, first responders are often times not fully apprised of the circumstances and conditions at the location of the emergency situation. For emergency services, a user calls an emergency number (e.g., 911) to report the occurrence of an emergency event. Based on the emergency call, an emergency dispatcher is able is coordinate an appropriate response to the location of the emergency. However, first responders would be better informed if they were able to see what is happening before arriving on the scene of an emergency situation.
There are known methods that facilitate the streaming of video over a wireless link from a mobile device. However, conventional approaches apply limited intelligence to problems such as the identification of news events and the gathering and distribution of video associated with news events.
For news gathering, new organizations typically acquire video footage of the occurrence of an event depending upon the technology available by which the news event was originally captured and such acquisition is well after the fact. For example, a news organization may obtain video for distribution via copies of a video tape, a ftp file transfer, a stream from YouTube and the like some time after the content is created. Some news organizations also have portals that allow individuals to submit videos of a news event; the news organization can then choose to feature a particular video from the submitted videos. However, the news organization must review each of the submitted videos to determine whether any are truly newsworthy (i.e., worthwhile for further distribution and/or follow-up coverage, possibly by a professional reporter).
None of these above options available to news organizations provides video footage as the event occurs happens. Real-time video footage is typically not provided until a professional reporter is dispatched and arrives at the location of the news event some time later with the necessary equipment, which the reporter, after verifying the validity of the event, uses to transmit video coverage of the news event.
In certain instances, a reporter may, by happenstance, be at the location of a news event and be able to stream video over a wireless link from a mobile device to their employer. The validity and newsworthiness of the event is not questionable in this instance due to the trusted, professional relationship between the new organization and employee-reporter. However, for a variety of reasons (cost, time, manpower, etc.), more often that not, professional reporters will not be present at the origination of a newsworthy event. As a result, news organizations are not able to efficiently and effectively present coverage of news events as those events begin and develop.